Episode Summary

Danny continues his pursuit of Jordan while Matt competes on an online bid for a date with Harriet. Jack and Wilson must deal with their pending situation about Macau, while Jordan meets with Hallie Gallway regarding a new reality show pitch.

A good start to a strong story arc

Like many shows this season, the first half of the season led into the winter break. While it wasn’t particularly long, the hiatus created an interesting effect on the audience. This plays more like the beginning of a new season than the continuation of the first season. For example, the teaser quickly covers the same amount of time that the show was off the air, as though the story has jumped forward from the previous run to the next phase.All of the plot and character threads remain, of course, and they’re important enough to warrant a three-part mini-arc. That leaves most of the story in “set up” mode, which is another reason why it feels more like a season premiere. Four major plot threads are explored in the episode, and none of them are resolved in any way by the end of the episode. Oddly, there’s little frustration as a result; just anticipation for the next installment of the story.Danny has followed through on his promise to pursue Jordan relentlessly, and at first, she seems to take it all rather well. She’s very patient with his constant advances, and in his defense, she never seems to shut him down in a definitive manner. As a result, his actions border on stalker territory, especially when he drums up support from high profile friends to press his suit. By the time that Jordan finally makes it clear that she wants him to let it go, things have gone far enough for Danny’s situation to get nasty if she feels the need to make a case out of it. Oddly, by refusing to stop, he’s discounting her feelings in the matter, which fairly close to the definition of sexual harassment (if not dead on).Matt’s typical passive-aggressive approach with Harriet may be stoking his creative fires, but it leaves him an emotional wreck. It’s ironic that his methods might actually work better in the long run. Then again, considering the level of neurotic jealousy required to buy a date with a woman just to keep someone else from having the satisfaction, it still may be a hopeless gesture. Never mind the fact that he’s planning to denote an equal amount to a charity that Harriet would despise!For all the relationship brouhaha, some of the best character work comes out of Jack, who gets to be the most sympathetic he’s ever been in this episode. Jack really is in a horrible bind, and his tactics display his more creative side. Even knowing that he’s often the devil, it’s hard not to like the guy and feel for his troubles. I was left hoping that he would succeed, even after his little stunt with the new girl.Hallie comes storming into Jordan’s office like a political officer in the old Russian army: a necessary and dangerous evil. Jordan knows that reality TV is an unfortunate staple of the medium, but she doesn’t make any concessions. It’s the perfect opportunity for someone with equal ambition and less morality to present a challenge. The pregnancy attack was incredibly harsh, and it spoke volumes. Hallie could very well be the character we love to hate.It’s practically a given that Jack’s major plot thread will intersect with Tom’s pursuit of Lucy, causing endless complications, and the tension between Simon and Darius will likely escalate into something far more substantial before the mini-arc is over. It’s good to see so many minor details from earlier episodes come back into play. The series has hit its stride, and though this is mostly a set-up episode, it still manages to remind the audience of all the good points from the first half of the season.moreless

I love this show, and this episode had everything in it that works for me. The dialog is witty and clever and I relate to the issues. It's part 1 of 3, so I'm not going to call it perfect ... yet.moreless

I love this show, and everything about it. I love the character interaction, the dialog, the issues that it raises mean something to me. It's hilarious, intelligent and meaningful.

I love Jordan and Harriet - 2 strong female characters, we don't have enough of those on TV.

I love Danny & Matt - great actors, doing a great job with their roles.

And Jack and Wilson - what a team, unexpectedly I am now rooting for them too.And the supporting cast is great!This is up there for me (with The West Wing ....).Intelligent shows can be funny too.moreless

I see it as the first third of a movie...

exposition, set ups, and promises make this episode a good one. It's easy to argue that the path of romance is getting a little heavy here, but it all depends on how those relationships are going to be treated in the next episode(s).

A shout out for Ed Asner, Steven Webber, and Matthew Perry. and NO, Danny was not a creap, he was a guy in loveGod I hope this show hangs around for a while... it is so greatAaron Sorkin is a fantastic writermoreless

It was an OK episode! I liked it.

I missed this show over the break a lot. This episode was good. I was a little disappointed that they didn't have Matt and Harriet talk a little more about their kiss, I don't know, I guessed were going to bring it up for more than two seconds like they did but oh well. The thing with Danny and Jordan is so cute, I totally hope she will end up falling for him, basically because he obviously won't stop to try to win her over. And that new woman that's working with Jordan now...hmmm I don't know but somehow I think she's trouble. The episode wasn’t my favorite one but it was still very good.moreless

Okay, so I am a huge Jack fan now, and I am so glad that the writers stuck to their guns and made Danny say "No" at the end.

Okay, can I just say that I have read a few reviews and am so disappointed that no one has mentioned Jack. He was so great, he stood up to the head of the board, and figured out a way to salvage Wilson White's career, as well as his own while sticking to his guns. I am really loving the integrity that this man has developed over the course of this first season. I must say that I pegged him as a bad guy in the beginning, but I am happy to be proved wrong. He is standing up, and not compromising, and I think that the statement he is trying to make, to not censor the news is important. That is a running theme with the media today. The other thing that I am so excited about is the follow-through with the Jordanny (as I will affectionately call my new favorite hopeful couple). He warned her that she could run, but she better get a good head start, because he was coming after her. I waited, fearing the worst out of my new favorite series, that they would just let Jordan turn down Danny and that would be it. But no, lo and behold, they followed through. Danny will not give up, and I think that even though the odds are stacked against them, after the speech that Danny gave Jordan, she should at least give him a chance. The letters of recommendation and the phone calls, are proof that he is not giving up (and so cute, what woman wouldn't want a grand gesture like that, embarrassing though it may be). Long live Jordanny!!moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (0)

QUOTES (6)

Jack: I wish this was a fight for ethics. I wish this was a conversation about the integrity of the news, but it's not. It's about preventing ourselves from being a laughingstock.Ted: Well, I don't feel like a laughingstock.Jack: That's only because you're a moron.Ted: (To Wilson, after a long pause) You're backing up what he said?Wilson White: Yes, including and especially your being a moron.

Tom: What are you doing?Lucy: Um, waiting for Simon to come back. The men who work here have a very difficult time focusing on one subject at the moment. They're easily distracted by shiny objects-Tom: Would you like to go out on a date with me sometime?Lucy: Pardon?Tom: I asked if you would like to go out on a date with me sometime.Lucy: Really?Tom: Yeah.Lucy: Really?Tom: Yeah.Lucy: Really?Tom: Yeah.Lucy: I'd love to.Tom: Thursday night?Lucy: Sure.Tom: Then my work here is done.

Matt: Twelve hundred dollars I gotta give to abstinence people?Suzanne: Twelve hundred and one.Matt: Alright, do it, and can you find me some non-profit organization that fundamentally does the opposite of what these guys do, so I can donate an equal amount to them, and make it a wash?Suzanne: That means an organization that encourages people to have sex?Matt: It's L.A. You should be able to throw a rock and hit one.

ALLUSIONS (2)

The pitch from a program called "All you need is love" is not really original. There was a programme of that name which aired in European countries such as Holland and Portugal. The programme was a reality tv show, where sets of two unknown people were set on blind dates by the programme producers. The encounters would than be filmed and the participants sometimes followed for a period of weeks. The programme also reunited estranged family members, hurt ex-lovers and people who were for some reason or another apart. Despite the fact that it was not very good, it ran for several seasons.

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